Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Aleksei Shevtsov has questioned the security of the Firebird artificial intelligence factory opened near Hrazdan. According to TASS, he said such data centers could be used in the interests of “Western intelligence services” for analytical and intelligence work, including against Iran, Russia, and countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
Shevtsov linked those claims to the fact that Firebird, in his words, is subject to US law. The Russian official argued that data processed on the center’s servers could therefore become accessible to US intelligence agencies, including information belonging to Armenian state institutions, companies, and citizens, without the consent of the Armenian authorities.
He also said that expanding the center’s capacity could create risks of electricity shortages. There has so far been no official comment from Yerevan on those statements.
Firebird’s AI factory opened on August 8 near Hrazdan. According to published details, the project involved about $500 million in investment, and the data center has already been launched with more than 1,000 GPUs on infrastructure powered by NVIDIA processors.
Bloomberg reported that 20% of the facility’s capacity is intended for Armenian companies and 80% for international clients. Armenia’s now former High-Tech Industry Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan had previously said that electricity generated in the country would be sufficient to meet the plant’s needs.
